Malawians working in estates in Israel have complained that they are struggling to sustain themselves as their money is in the hands of agents in Malawi while the workers only received 10 percent of their salaries.
The workers have described their working conditions as modern day slavery, saying agents are the ones benefitting.
Malawi, through recruitment agencies working with Ministry of Labour, has so far sent over 400 young people to Israel to work in farms.
Some of the workers signed agreement allowing agents to receive 90 percent of the workers’ salaries and then deposit the money to the workers’ Malawian bank accounts.
The workers have told the local media that they received 10 percent of their salaries on 9th January and the agents got the huge chunk on the same day but are yet to deposit the money in the workers’ Malawian accounts.
“We have been checking the balances. The money isn’t reflecting in our accounts. This raises questions because money transfer to Malawi from here doesn’t take that long,” one of the workers told Malawi News.
According to the workers, it said that they are not in control of their salaries.
“We to do this hard work and at the end of the month, someone who did no work comes to receive your salary and starts controlling it,” one worker said.
The migrants workers receive a total of 5,000 shekels, which is about K3 million, as monthly salary. However, they have complained that life in Israel is expensive and the 10 percent is not enough for a month.
“They know we can’t survive here with the money they are giving us because the 10 percent we are getting is an equivalent of K300,000 which is peanuts here.
“For example, 1kg of beef in Israeli costs an equivalent of K55,000 back home. Things are very expensive here. Ask the agents they will tell you if they are honest,” said the worker.
Meanwhile, some of the workers have reportedly fled their estates to look for other jobs that do not involve agents.
The workers have since appealed to government and their agents to let the workers be in control of their own money.
“We are so disappointed with what is happening. We do not want to be used as a tool for the government to generate forex. We want to enjoy our salaries just like all other employees around the world,” one of the workers.
However, the situation is different for Malawian workers in some estates as their bosses pay 100 percent of their salaries directly to the workers.
One of the agents, managing director for Lions Recruitment Agency Chifundo Banda who has previously claimed that Malawians are happy in Israel, has declined to comment on the matter.
Speaking with Malawi News, Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Labour Wezi Kayira has advised the workers to report their issues to the ministry.
Kayira said the workers were already informed that part of their salaries will be sent to Malawi to repay the money that was used the workers’ air tickets.
